After sleeping next to a Wi-Fi router, Riya Shah was curious about the effects of Wi-Fi on her health.

Shah woke up tired and disoriented, and she thought it could have been caused by the Wi-Fi router. As an eighth-grader at North Oldham Middle School, she decided to test her theory on plants and enter her experiment into the science fair.

For 10 days, she grew two sets of seeds. One set was away from a Wi-Fi router, and the other set was close to a Wi-Fi router. The seeds away from the router had an average stem growth of 7.1 centimeters. The seeds next to the Wi-Fi router had an average stem growth of only 1.1 centimeters.
Shah used her findings as evidence that Wi-Fi could be dangerous for human health. She said if Wi-Fi routers can kill plants or prevent them from growing, they “could potentially harm us.” Shah said she would need to properly experiment with this theory, but she is still sure the results could relate to humans.

She said her experiment is important for everybody because Wi-Fi has become necessary in today’s world. She related this experiment to her own life because she wants to be a computer engineer. Shah has participated in LRSEF for three years, and she said this is her favorite project so far. Shah said she enjoys coming to LRSEF because she likes taking the opportunity to increase her knowledge.

You can support the exploration of ideas for students like Riya Shah by donating to the Louisville Regional Science and Engineering Fair.